1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable magnification optical system and an imaging apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a variable magnification optical system usable in a video camera, an electronic still camera and the like, and appropriate especially for a surveillance camera, and also to an imaging apparatus including the variable magnification optical system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, variable magnification optical systems for CCTV (Closed-circuit Television) were developed, as optical systems for imaging apparatuses, such as a video camera, an electronic still camera, and a surveillance camera, which use imaging devices, such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), as recording media.
As such variable magnification optical systems for CCTV, an optical system with a built-in extender, which can extend the focal length of the optical system toward a telephoto side, has been proposed (please refer, for example, to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7(1995)-325252 (Patent Document 1), U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,481 (Patent Document 2), Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-126631 (Patent Document 3), and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050099699 (Patent Document 4)).